Fear of failure: a student-facing investigation into the motivations for contract cheating and academic misconduct

The advent of remote learning and the over-representation of international students in contract cheating literature have contributed to the beliefs that a digital pathway to higher education necessitates academic malpractice, and that this phenomenon is more prevalent among non-native students. This study seeks to contribute to the existing literature on international students and contract cheating by providing both holistic and nuanced student perspectives from survey and interview data. An online survey distributed to 117 students, of which 103 international students participated and a supplementary interview conducted with 6 additional participants from a UK university reveal a holistic and nuanced insight into the student perspective of contract cheating definitions and causes. The results support the currently scarce but emerging literature that a fear of failure and lack of self-confidence due to weak academic writing skills in English have a greater contribution to a student’s susceptibility to outsource their work than students’ automatic international status. This paper advocates for university support systems for academic writing skills in English to be shared among universities, and further suggests that these systems should be tailored and further promoted to the postgraduate student demographic.